Share Your Spare: Organ Donation

Transplanted organs save so many lives as medical science and surgical techniques advance, but the sad fact remains that that the number of people who need an organ outstrips the number of people who donate organs. It is thought that every day in the UK, three people die waiting for an organ.

There have been some incredibly moving videos on social media lately – hearing the heartbeat of a deceased child beating strong in another person, meeting the recipient of your partners lung donation and so on. Emotive as they are, they do illustrate just how life changing organ donation can be to those who receive a transplant.

Talking about dying and organ donation can be really difficult, so it is understandable why we might shy away from thinking about it and talking to our loved ones about it. Somehow as if it’s almost tempting fate.

We can donate organs such as heart, lungs, kidneys, liver or pancreas, or we can donate tissues such as corneas (a clear layer of ‘skin’ at the front of the eye), heart valves, skin or bone.

Most people know about organ donation after death, however we can (in some circumstances) donate an organ whilst we are alive. The commonest situation would be to donate a kidney to another person in need, sometimes within our family. We have two kidneys but we can usually manage just fine with one. The brilliantly titled #ShareYourSpare is a social media campaign trying to raise awareness for living kidney donation.

Roughly 5000 people in the UK are waiting for a kidney transplant and as many as 250 patients died last year waiting for a kidney transplant – because they could not get a transplant in time.

Parts of the UK have different laws regarding consent for organ donation, and you should always check what the law is where you live.

In Wales there is an ‘opt-out’ system. This means that you can still voluntarily register to be an organ donor if you wish. However if you specifically do not want to be a donor, you need to register your intention not to donate. If you do nothing, it will be presumed that you do not object to donation. For the rest of the UK, you still need to register your intention to donate your organs.

Regardless of your feelings or decisions about donation, it is important that you tell your next of kin or family. In the event that the worse happens, your family can help to share your wishes and make these known to the medical team looking after you. If they do not know you wanted to donate your organs, this could blind side them in an already very difficult time.

Talking about death and dying with our loved ones can be a difficult and painful process. As hard as these discussions are, having them sooner rather than later will ensure we’re all on the same page if the worse should happen. As we look to raise awareness of organ donation this week, try and take the opportunity to think about what you might want.